Nothing short of a full enquiry into the aid sector will do

Helen Evans, former head of safeguarding at Oxfam, made damning accusations about the lack of basic processes and disregard of serious concerns she raised, the substance of which were not denied by the Chief Executive.

The government must now accept that nothing short of a full and far-reaching enquiry into illegal sexual behaviour within Oxfam and across the wider aid sector, will do.

The saddest outcome of this whole sorry saga would be to throw the baby out with the bathwater and desert the 0.7% of GNI devoted to alleviate extreme poverty.

The public has a right to know what the extent of the problem is, and whether what has been exposed to date is only the tip of the iceberg.

This information is vital if those of us who are proud of Britain's record of delivering aid to the poorest people on our planet are to successfully defend it.

The saddest outcome of this whole sorry saga would be to throw the baby out with the bathwater and desert the 0.7% of GNI devoted to alleviate extreme poverty.